Readers speak out on Snowden, spying issues

Confucius may have been first to teach the need to "rectify the terms." For me it was study of ancient Greek that taught the difference between, say, the Wall Street Journal calling Ross Perot the man who lost the most ever in one day trading on the stock market and calling him a loser. Our politicians are among the most reckless in blurring these critical distinctions.Once, a presidential candidate saluted as "our savior" the speech writer of a heartfelt tribute to the thousands of Jews who defended the Warsaw ghetto in 1944 against all odds ... but later fired this writer for speaking up for the Palestinian majority in the Occupied Territories who (then and still after 65 years) cling to nonviolent resistance.Now, we are confronted with congressional leaders who race to saddle Edward Snowden with the dreaded name of traitor, as if hoping that by striking first they can divert the title from themselves, who have ignored for years both spirit and letter of Amendments I, IV, and V. To end as I began, these are "interesting times," when we prove more loyal to the challenges of the Constitution than to the NSA, FBI and CIA.Edwin L. Brown, Asheville###Edward Snowden's actions may be criminal in our current perverted Orwellian predicament, but what is genuinely treasonous is the insidious depletion of the spirit of the American experiment executed by officials entrusted with the public well-being. That those officials are now in a huff over the revelation of indiscriminate snooping into what many of us have thought private is a real doozy. Who could seriously believe that any potential terrorists haven't been assuming such Big Brother-esque intrusions into our communications systems for years now? No, these U.S. officials are embarrassed and ashamed that the public has been informed about this activity that smells more tyrannical than liberating. Let the truth-telling continue, and let's not waste time and energy punishing the kind of courage that we might be better off finding in ourselves.Daniel Barber, Asheville

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Readers speak out on Snowden, spying issues

Confucius may have been first to teach the need to 'rectify the terms.' For me it was study of ancient Greek that taught the difference between, say, the Wall Street Journal calling Ross Perot the